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Skinny guy - gaining weight but also a belly

post #1 of 18
10/12/08 at 11:12pm
Thread Starter 
Hi Guys -

I'm a 26 year old guy who has always been skinny. More recently, I have changed my diet and increased my calorie intake and also started to work out on a regular basis. I have been able to gain weight at a reasonable pace and now weigh around 135 pounds ~ 15 pounds more than I weighed say 2 months back. The problem is that this weight gain has come at the expense of increasing fat around my belly. I have always had flat almost 6-pack abs (not surprising given how much I weighed) and the increasing fat around my belly is freaking me out.

I have become more conscious of my diet and eliminated some sugar rich juice/meals that I was drinking/eating. My father has a rather huge belly and is small framed and I fear that I probably have the same tendencies. Is there anything I can do to address this? I work out around 3 times a weak - 20mins of running followed by weights and ab crunches/exercies. Are there certain type of ab exercises I should be doing than others? More cardio? if so what kind of cardio would people advise?

I'd be happy to give more info if need be. Thanks a lot in advance.
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post #2 of 18
10/13/08 at 1:55am
15lbs in 2 months is almost guaranteed to be mostly fat unless you're training really hard.
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post #3 of 18
10/13/08 at 5:14am
From the information given, I suspect your diet isn't very clean. Many people make the mistake of thinking you can eat whatever you want if you're trying to put on weight, so long as you're consuming more calories. Post what a typical day of eating was like during this two-month stretch. And be honest. Crunches and the like won't do anything here. You aren't going to see abs if they're covered in fat, regardless of how hard you work them.
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post #4 of 18
10/13/08 at 2:53pm
Thread Starter 
Can't deny that quite a bit was fat but I have bulked up especially around the arms and chest. So my original diet was as follows (I'm vegetarian): - Skim milk to start the day followed by a breakfast of 2 eggs and cheese on a roll - Lunch that consists of either a subway sandwich with soy or chipotle with black beans - In the evening, I'd grab a medium sized Jamba juice protein berry workout with whey - Dinner usually lentil soup, falafal, veggies, noodles or pasta I have started to eat oatmeal and two slices of whole wheat bread instead of the egg roll in the morning and removed the Jamba juice and replaced it with a protein shake (I thought the sugar in the juice was too much - 50+ grams!). I know the diet isn't a lot but I don't necessarily want to gain too much weight too quickly so have tried to gradually add to the meals.
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post #5 of 18
10/13/08 at 2:59pm
Keep in mind, if you are bulking you should have a belly going, but still try to eat clean so you don't have as much work to do on the cut I guess.
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post #6 of 18
10/13/08 at 5:16pm
At 135, you probably can eat whatever you want, but this:

Quote:
Originally Posted by randomax View Post
I work out around 3 times a weak - 20mins of running followed by weights and ab crunches/exercies.

will make you fat if you do. Stop running. What are you running for? Join my jihad against cardio. Stop doing ab work. Join my jihad against ab work (don't worry, you'll still have abs). Put a bunch of weight on a bar, hold it on your back, sit down in a chair, and stand back up. Repeat until lightheaded. Then go have a triple cheese burger. Join my jihad for Triple Cheese Burgers.
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post #7 of 18
10/13/08 at 5:32pm
Stop eating so much, or expect to gain fat. Muscle mass takes time to build, you'll never add 15 lbs in 2 months of pure muscle. If you don't like periods of being slighly pudgy while bulking just eat slightly more than what you normally do around the time you get done training, then eat like normal until the next time you workout. A person can add muscle mass while being at body fat percentages under 10%. This way you get bigger slowly, but look good and fit all the time. No dealing with bulking /cutting, good body/ pudgy body cycles all the time. Also, DO cardio to train, your heart as it is the most important muscle you have. You want a healthy cardiovascular system to ward off a threats of disease, effects of aging and a bunch of other benefits you've heard throughout your life. If you want to increase mass just up the caloric intake to compensate (but not too much as previously mentioned).
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post #8 of 18
10/13/08 at 6:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ken View Post
At 135, you probably can eat whatever you want, but this:



will make you fat if you do. Stop running. What are you running for? Join my jihad against cardio. Stop doing ab work. Join my jihad against ab work (don't worry, you'll still have abs). Put a bunch of weight on a bar, hold it on your back, sit down in a chair, and stand back up. Repeat until lightheaded. Then go have a triple cheese burger. Join my jihad for Triple Cheese Burgers.

LOL.
+1, good post.
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post #9 of 18
10/14/08 at 7:31pm
Thread Starter 
No intention of stopping cardio - I've always been fairly active playing one sport or the other and cardio is the only thing that gets close to that although it is VERY boring. I'll be more careful about my diet going forward. Thanks for the tips.
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post #10 of 18
10/15/08 at 2:13pm
I recommend cooking all (or as many meals as you can) from scratch. You get a better understanding of what goes into your meals, what flavors work for you and you can cut out preservatives and processed foods, and save money for things like clothes. Until I started doing this, I never had any definition despite how skinny I was.
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post #11 of 18
10/15/08 at 4:06pm
where do I sign up for the jihad?
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post #12 of 18
10/15/08 at 10:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ken View Post
At 135, you probably can eat whatever you want, but this:



will make you fat if you do. Stop running. What are you running for? Join my jihad against cardio. Stop doing ab work. Join my jihad against ab work (don't worry, you'll still have abs). Put a bunch of weight on a bar, hold it on your back, sit down in a chair, and stand back up. Repeat until lightheaded. Then go have a triple cheese burger. Join my jihad for Triple Cheese Burgers.
This pretty much sums up my workout.
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post #13 of 18
10/16/08 at 5:54pm
It sounds like too high a percentage of your diet is carbohydrates. Even with the adjustments listed, it's probably too high. For the first meal of the day and the meals around workouts, carbs are important. Otherwise, you probably should be relying more on protein. Since you're vegetarian, you can use protein powders of rice, hemp, soy, pea, etc.
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post #14 of 18
10/16/08 at 6:06pm
its funny, whatever must people are they want to be the opposite....
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post #15 of 18
10/17/08 at 12:37am
Thanks for posting this OP. I've had almost the exact same experience as you. I'm interested, how tall are you? I'm 25 and 6'2". I weight about 170-175. I'm also vegetarian. For the longest time I've been too skinny, imo. I eventually gained weight with the help of Ensure Plus and now I've gained a bit of a gut. My father has a big belly also. I've recently started cycling more and am lowering my caloric intake. I seem to be losing weight (I don't have a scale), albeit slowly. I think I would be better if I weighed about 10 pounds less.
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